Tasmania’s opposition is demanding to know how much taxpayers will pay under the government’s TasInsure scheme, saying costs are climbing without any savings delivered.
Shadow Finance Minister Luke Edmunds said Premier Jeremy Rockliff promised TasInsure would not cost Tasmanians a cent.
He said the premier also promised it would cut household insurance bills by $250 a year and help bring down grocery prices.
“Not one of those promises has been delivered,” Edmunds said.
He said the government spent $150,000 on a consultant it dubbed the “Michael Jordan of insurance”.
Edmunds said a further $4.2 million was then spent on what he called a “TasInsure bureaucracy” after the consultant found the policy could not be delivered.
He said the government’s agreement with RACT proposes a monthly retainer paid to the organisation for five years, as well as repaying RACT for costs from the interim deal.
Edmunds said the premier has not disclosed how much the retainer will be or how much RACT could be repaid.
“Instead of getting lower insurance bills and cheaper groceries, Tasmanians could end up paying an insurance company for the next five years,” he said.
He described TasInsure as “another costly Liberal promise that has delivered nothing for Tasmanian households”.
Rockliff did not address the retainer or the reimbursements when asked about TasInsure at a press conference on Tuesday.
He said Tasmania was the only state tackling insurance affordability and that Labor and the Greens had not put forward an alternative.
“What has Labor got against cheaper insurance? What has Labor got against fairer insurance?” he said.
Rockliff said individuals and businesses across the state were underinsuring or going without cover.
“I will not be distracted or deterred by Labor Party negativity when it comes to supporting Tasmanians with cheaper and fairer insurance,” he said.
He said the government was working through the memorandum and would focus first on hospitality, tourism and community groups.
The three-month memorandum of understanding, signed on August 10, is non-binding and is being used to finalise a longer-term partnership expected to run for five years.
It describes TasInsure as a government-owned, statutory not-for-profit entity that will work with insurers, brokers and reinsurers on insurance availability and affordability.
Rockliff said at the signing the government would still deliver $250 in household savings and 20% cuts to small business premiums, with those figures still being worked through with RACT.
